Saturday mornings

Well, I just wrapped up all my Saturday morning chores which included feeding Cleo, watering my garden (no rain last night), washing my clothes and sheets by hand (roughly 1.5 hours), mopping my floors with leftover clothes water, and taking a nice, cold bucket bath. No complaints here since water flows into my backyard every morning...some, in fact, many people here in my community still take their clothes and shampoo to the nearby river to wash their clothes and bathe. It's something I try really hard not to think about when I go swimming with my friends...the soapy water running through where we are splashing around.

Washing clothes by hand is a huge chore, workout, and art all at the same time. A couple of weeks into my service my host mother taught me how to do it. You would think you would naturally know but you don't. Salvadoran women move their hands in such a way that makes it more effective and I really can't help my wanting to move my hands the way they do...I try but I am pretty sure its not as fluid. It's a process that can be done several ways. I personally break it down- undergarments, then shirts, then bottoms. Usually I put my sheets in a big tub to soak in bleach before I start the whole process...bleach is my savior against fleas and ringworm (thank you cleo). We use these cylinder soap bars which make rolling over the clothes a fluid motion then you grab the top half of the garment and use it as a sort of scrubber for the rest of area. Then, of course you flip. With pants, they are usually done inside out. I don't know for sure but I think its because they figure you sweat more on the inside. I decide by looking at how dirty the front is before I decide which side to wash. After scrubbing, you douse it in water to rinse and then have the option of soaking it in detergent to help the smell while you finish washing the rest. I sometimes do this but not always...it just prolongs the process and my clothes don't usually smell bad enough to need the extra soak. After hanging everything out on the clothesline ( we currently have at least 10 due to the baby and their diapers next door), I move onto rinsing out my sheets which are just the worst thing ever. I never quite manage to get all the soap out of them...they are just too damn big. Then, I take my mop which is really an old towel with holes cut in it over a mop stick and stick it into the old bleach water of the sheets and mop up. Cleo meanwhile is lounging in the mosquito net above my bed. (I am pretty sure there is a picture of this posted if not it's coming soon.) After the mopping, I attempt to take a shower but the water pressure by 10:00 am is already fading so it makes more sense to use the bucket and tub. Normal Salvadoran living.

Creencias. Salvadorans have many beliefs when it comes to health. A few days ago, I got into a discussion with my hs director about "parasitos de gato". She was trying to warn me about Cleo, or more specifically her fur. She told me a friend at church had recently been told by her doctor that she could no longer have children because of some parasites she contracted from her cat. Apparently you can get these parasites by the fur or by the poop particles that float through the air. I told her cats bury their poop so I didn't think that sounded all the correct. I also told her that of all the possible way to contract things here I was not convinced a cat could be to blame. People here regularly burn and inhale their plastic bottles, drink unsanitzed water, bathe in rivers, wash their dishes in rivers, sleep without mosquito nets, and the list could go on. I don't think cats are to blame for her friend not being able to have babies. It's just one example of what people claim their doctors say.

Another girl friend of mine is pregnant and recently came back from a trip to the doctor. I asked if she knew what she was going to have and she said no she didn't want to know and in any case her doctor advised her against a sonogram because it was harmful to the baby. I thought sonograms were good to catch things that were wrong with the baby?

Another older woman friend of mine was talking to me about watermelon. She was warning me that she recently came back from the doctor and the doctor warned her that watermelon was really bad for women and they should stay away from it.

My host mother at site when I first got here was making me eggs and asked if I liked onions and I said I loved them. She said she doesn't let her 11 year old eat too many because onions are known to make women more "sexual."

I got berated by my other site mother last night for showering shortly after returning from my long walk. And two days ago, my friend was yelling at her grandson not to shower until 3 o'clock this afternoon after working in the fields all morning. It was around 12 o'clock when she said this. Salvadorans believe that washing after exercise will cause the dirt to enter your bones and will hurt you. We have discussed this among us volunteers and we agree immediatly after is probably not good because the cold water already shocks your body (the first bucket is always the hardest) and when your body is really warm after exercise it actually could make you sick but I don't know about waiting 4 hours and dirt in the bones...

There is also a huge list of things you aren't suppose to do or eat while women are on their period but I'll spare you that.